Ukrainian authorities: 260 dead in Kharkiv region since start of war

Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday night that at least 260 civilians have been killed in the fighting around the country’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, since the start of the Russian invasion.

Among the dead were 14 children, Ukrainian authorities said.

Kharkiv continues to be shelled by artillery and several residential buildings were hit on Saturday evening, Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency reported.

Ukrainian authorities said that three civilians had died over the past 24 hours as a result of Russian shelling in the Kharkiv region.

Belarusian rail connections to Ukraine reportedly cut

Belarusian railway workers have reportedly cut off all rail connections between their country and Ukraine.

Ukrainian railway chief Olexander Kamyshin thanked Belarusian railway workers for this claimed act of sabotage on Saturday.

“As of today, I can say there is no rail traffic between Belarus and Ukraine,” Kamyshin was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s Unian news agency. Kamyshin said that he would not give further details.

Franak Viacorka, advisor to exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, tweeted about the incident and said that it had been confirmed by Belarusian railway workers, while declining to provide details.

Summary of Saturday’s events in Ukraine-Russia crisis

The Russian invasion has brought 30% of the Ukrainian economy to a standstill, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.

Vitaly Kim, the head of the regional administration of Mykolaiv, said Saturday that Russian air raids were taking place over the southern Ukrainian city.

Ukraine said it had evacuated 6,623 people through humanitarian corridors on Saturday.

The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that 4,128 had been evacuated from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces.

In a bid to secure alternatives to Russian energy, Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck travelled to Qatar. Habeck recently visited Norway and is soon to visit the UAE.

The UN human rights office said 847 civilians were killed in Ukraine since the February 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine was launched.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said the Cold War was at the root of the war in Ukraine and attacked Western sanctions against Russia.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed it used hypersonic weapons to destroy targets in Ukraine.

Although Russia has moved many of its troops and military equipment into Ukraine through Belarus, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has not committed Belarusian troops to the offensive.